Ricky Romero will tell you that last year was last year. It’s over and he’s turned the page.

But then he comes out and makes a start like he did on Saturday against the Tigers and you have to wonder.

Against Detroit, Romero lasted two innings — he was scheduled to go three — and gave up three hits and two runs (one earned), walked three and struck out one. He also gave up a home run to left-handed hitting Andy Dirks.

It was a walk down memory lane of what he offered in most of his starts in the disaster that was 2012.

It’s spring and all and starters are working on things but due to what happened in 2012 you have to wonder which Ricky will show up this season?

What Romero hammered home last season was that he became his own worst enemy, fretted and worried about his pitching to the point where he could not dig out from the problems that piled up.

“It certainly was the case last year,” pitching coach Pete Walker, who last season was the Jays bullpen coach, said Sunday. “Watching Ricky pitch he definitely put the weight of the world on his shoulders and when things didn’t go well he definitely had a tough time with it. He takes a lot of pride in his work. He takes a lot of pride in what he does for a living and for the city of Toronto and I think it really weighed on him last year.

“He came into spring training with that weight lifted and Saturday wasn’t a great outing for him. I thought in the first inning he threw the ball well (a walk, a double play ground ball, home run by Dirks and line shot to second for the third out). He got into a little bit of a jam in the second inning and came out of his delivery, for the first time this spring. His side sessions, his live BPs, his first couple of outings, he’s done a lot of good things. There’s a couple of things that he’s working on that I think have made a little bit of a difference (positive). I’m looking forward to his next one.